Package size indicator for winding machines



1 April 14, 1936. Q MCKEAN 2,03%475 PACKAGE SiZE INDICATOR FOR WINDING MACHINES Filed April 14, 1933 Patented Apr. 14, 1936 PACKAGE SIZE INDICATOR FOR WINDING MACHINES John O. McKean, Westfield, Mass, assignor to Foster Machine Company, Westfield; Mass.,' a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 14, 1933, Serial No. 666,103

2 Claims. (Cl. 116-114) One object of my invention is to provide a At the outer end of supporting member I2 is package size indicator for winding machines an ofiset portion having two upstanding ears I5 which is simple in construction, accurate in opso positioned as to be substantially equidistant eration and adjustable to different sized packfrom a vertical plane taken through the full pack- 5 ages. age. Through said ears I5 is riveted a pivot I6 Another object is to indicate visually that the about which is pivotally attached a package conpackage is approaching a predetermined size, so tactor 'I I comprising a strip of light and thin, yet that it may be removed, if so desired, upon the wear-resistant sheet material having a spoonexhaustion of a supply bobbin or the breaking of shaped portion I8 formed in its free end. The

10 the yarn, thereby increasing the efiiciency of the smoothly formed bowl portion of said spoon is so 10 Winding machine by decreasing the average numpositioned as to contact with the-surface of a ber of stops per package wound. package upon its reaching a predetermined di- Still another object is the construction of such ameter. a device having a weight and form such that it Integral with supporting member I2 and interwill not make a groove in the package or injure mediate ears I5 is a projecting abutment I9 15 the threads wound thereon at its point of conadapted to support the package contactor IT in tact. an approximately horizontal position when the Other objects and advantages will be apparent spoon-shaped portion of said contactor is not as my invention is further described. in contact with a package. A practical embodiment of my invention is In operation, if it is desired to not employ my 20 represented in the accompanying drawing, in package size indicator, the package co-ntactor is which simply swung about its pivot to an inoperative Fig, 1 represents an elevation of a winding head position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. If it and driving roll taken in a plane perpendicular is desired to use the indicator, the package conto said driving roll and with the full sized packtactor is swung over to its operative position and 25 age indicated by dotted lines; comes to rest against the stop I9 which holds it Fig. 2 represents a transverse elevation of that approximately at right angles to its support. portion of Fig. 1 which shows my invention, the Thereupon, the supporting member is adjusted by full sized package again being denoted by dotted means of the bolt and slot arrangement, so that lines; and the spoon portion will be a predetermined dis- 30 Fig. 3 represents a detail transverse section tance away from the winding spindle. Theretaken in the plane of the line IIIIII of Fig. 1, upon, the yarn is started on the spindle, the looking in the direction of the arrows. spindle is swung down so as to contact with the I denotes a driving roll, mounted and driven driving roll, and the winding thereupon proceeds 5 in a manner well known in the art, and driving in a well known manner until the size of the the package 2 by means of frictional contact package approximates the size desired, for intherewith. Said package 2 is mounted on spindle stance, such a size as is shown in the drawing.

3 rotatably mounted on arm 4 which is held by At this time the irregular surface of the package means of bolt 5 in socket 6 which is pivotally will contact with the spoon-shaped portion of mounted on shaft I journaled in a well known my contactor, and will cause it to jiggle up and 40 manner not here indicated. Attached to arm 4 down violently, calling the attention of the opis weight 8 held in place thereon by bolt 9 and erator to the fact that the package is of a suffihaving an upstanding portion I0 adapted to recient size, so that upon the emptying of a supply ceive bolt II by which is adjustably attached bobbin, the package may be removed and a new thereto the supporting member I2 of the packone begun. Moreover, in case the winding is in- 4,5

age size indicator, said member containing longiterrupted by a breaking of the yarn, an operator tudinal slot I3 whereby it may be adju ed difis enabled to judge by glancing at my indicator ferent distances from the spindle 3. One straight whether or not a new package should be begun. side of said member I2 abuts a ledge I4 formed Heretofore, there have been stop motions on upstandin p rt n fll m ine the adjustm nt which mechanically stopped the winding of a 50 to that of a lineal nature and providing a conpackage upon its reaching a predetermined size, venient surface upon which to inscribe a scale whereupon the yarn was broken and a new pack- (not shown) enabling a quick and accurate deage was begun even though there might only termination f t proper adjustment q d to have been a fraction of a supply bobbin remainmake a package of a given diametering to be wound. When such a fraction had been 55 wound on a new spindle, the stop motion stopped the package again in order that a new supply bobbin might be furnished. Moreover, in using such a stop motion, advantage would not ordinarily be taken of a break in the yarn when the package was approaching its proper size to remove the package and begin a new one. In view of the fact that the yarn is commonly marketed by Weight, there is no disadvantage in winding packages of slightly different diameters, and with an invention such as I have described herein, the package may be permitted to wind even after it has grown to such a size that it contacts with the spoon-shaped portion of my package size indicator, thereby permitting an operator to finish Winding a supply bobbin or to take advantage of a broken yarn to remove the package and start another.

The irregularities on the package surface are sufiicient to impart to the spoon-shaped portion of my indicator an appreciable motion amply sufficient to attract an operators attention. The smooth under-surface of my spoon-shaped portion and the lightness of my package contactor result in the fact that the threads are neither weakened nor cut by their contact therewith.

It is evident that various changes may be resorted to in the construction, form and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not intend to be limited to the particular embodiment herein shown and described, but what I claim is:

1. In a winding machine, a winding spindle carrying rock arm provided with a ledge, and a package size indicator comprising a support adjustable in a linear direction only and adapted to abut said ledge, and a package contacting means pivoted to said support.

2. In a winding machine, a rock arm, a winding spindle carried thereby and arranged to support a package during the formation thereof, an adjustable support provided with a stop on said rock arm, and a strip of sheet metal pivoted to said support, said stop being adapted to keep said strip out of contact with the package until the package reaches a predetermined size, said strip being provided with a spoon-shaped recess in its free end, a wall of said recess being arranged to engage the package when the package attains a predetermined size.

JOHN O. MoKEAN. 

